After an extremely disappointing loss for the Duke football program, falling 45-19 at home against No. 9 Illinois, the Blue Devils now look to bounce back against a talented but unranked opponent. However, the betting markets aren't on Duke's side, setting the team as underdogs against unranked Tulane. Granted, the Blue Devils did just fall by 26 points to the Fighting Illini after entering the contest as 2.5-point underdogs, but now Manny Diaz and his guys need to prove to the country that they can still compete atop the ACC and on a national scale. After losing to Illinois, the Blue Devils will likely need to win out for any hope of a College Football Playoff berth, and that starts with taking down the Green Wave on the road.
Betting markets set Duke as underdogs against unranked Tulane
According to FanDuel, Tulane is set as a 2.5-point favorite (-105) at home against Duke. The Blue Devils are 2.5-point underdogs (-115). Tulane's moneyline is set at -130 with Duke at +108. The total points Over/Under is set at a fairly high 54.5.
Now, to most fans, Duke looked like a team that just wasn't ready for the moment and maybe didn't deserve the preseason hype as a sleeper contender in the ACC. But Duke fans know how that game was within reach, and so much went wrong in the second half to keep the Blue Devils out of it.
Duke committed five turnovers, three of those by Darian Mensah, that led to 21 Illinois points. Additionally, after surrendering -5 rushing yards in the first half to the Illini, Duke followed that up by allowing over 100 in the second half.
Tulane has been a team just outside the Associated Press Poll looking in, viewed as one of the better mid majors college football has to offer. The Green Wave are off to a 2-0 start after taking down Northwestern 23-3 and South Alabama 33-31.
Jake Retzlaff has had a solid start to his career with Tulane after transferring from BYU just before the start of the season due to some personal issues. Due to the off-the-field problems, Retzlaff had to walk on to the program.
After a messy game against Illinois, Mensah has a chance to bounce back against his former program, as he transferred to Duke from Tulane. In 2024, Mensah led the Green Wave to a nine-win season and a berth to the AAC Championship Game.